Bruins re-sign Bartkowski, sign top-pick Pastrnak

NHL.com

Bruins re-sign Bartkowski, sign top-pick PastrnakDefenseman Matt Bartkowski avoided an arbitartio hearing with the Boston Bruins by signing a one-year, $1.25 million contract. The Bruins also have signed 2014 first-round pick David Pastrnak

Bartkowski, 26, signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract to avoid an arbitration hearing. He had 18 assists and a plus-22 rating in 64 games with the Bruins last season averaging 19:32 per game in ice time, fourth-most on the team. He had one assist and a plus-2 rating in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"When Dennis Seidenberg got hurt [Bartkowski] was able to come in and play some real solid minutes," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said. "He's the type of player that can really push the puck well. It's a tough position in the League, there's nuances he's still learning and I would expect him to continue to improve."

In parts of four NHL seasons, all with the Bruins, Bartkowski has 20 assists and a plus-19 rating in 84 games.

"I can work on the consistency," Bartkowski said. "If you can play every night, just being able to prove I could do it and hopefully make some more strides and be 100 percent consistent is the ultimate goal."

Pastrnak, 18, signed an entry-level contract less than a month after the Bruins selected him with the 25th pick of the 2014 NHL Draft.

"He'll come to camp now and he'll get the experience of a training camp, get some [exhibition] games," Chiarelli said. "He had a terrific development camp. Everyone was talking about him. He's a good young player, just 18 years old. He's a player that … it's well-documented we're looking for skill and speed and he fits that bill but let's not put the cart before the horse. I think we were fortunate to get him where we got him. He had a terrific camp and we'll go from there."

Pastrnak had eight goals and 16 assists in 36 games with Sodertalje in Sweden's second division and played for his native Czech Republic in the 2014 IIHF World Under-18 Championship and the 2014 World Junior Championship. He had five points in seven games at the U-18 tournament to help the Czechs win the silver medal.

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft